Hong Kong cannot expect to see a “V-shaped” recovery for the battered travel industry once the novel coronavirus outbreak is over, as was the case following the SARS epidemic in 2003, a tourism official said on Monday.
Even if the coronavirus outbreak is brought under control in Hong Kong, the local tourism sector will still be adversely affected, as the pandemic continues to rage across the world instead of being confined to particular regions, Dane Cheng, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, told a radio program.
So far, nearly 330,000 people have been infected worldwide, with more than 14,000 fatalities in some 180 countries, according to the World Health Organization. In Hong Kong, the number of confirmed cases reached 386 on Tuesday with 30 new infections.
To curb the spread of the virus, the SAR government rolled out a series of measures from Feb 8 and closed all but three control points. Measures were stepped up on Monday when the Hong Kong authorities decided to ban the entry of non-residents at Hong Kong International Airport, initially, for 14 days, from Wednesday, as well as travelers from the mainland, Macao and Taiwan who have been abroad in the past two weeks.
The links between Hong Kong and the mainland have been much closer today, and there’s little room for using such measures to revive the city’s tourism industry and economy
Dane Cheng, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board
The steps taken so far have reduced tourist arrivals to a trickle. The Tourism Board’s latest statistics showed that tourist arrivals in the city hit a new low of 199,000 in February – down 96 percent – compared with the same period a year ago. Arrivals from the mainland tumbled nearly 98 percent year-on-year.
Cheng predicted that a recovery in the tourism industry will not be as apparent as in 2003 following the SARS epidemic. The number of visitors to Hong Kong plunged by nearly 58 percent year-on-year to 1.65 million from April to June 2003. But, visitor numbers staged a strong rebound, rising to 1.29 million in July and 1.64 million in August -- the same levels before the epidemic.
The sharp recovery was propelled by the implementation of the Individual Visit Scheme from July 2003, which allows residents of designated mainland cities to visit Hong Kong as independent travelers without joining group tours.
Cheng said the links between Hong Kong and the mainland have been much closer today, and there’s little room for using such measures to revive the city’s tourism industry and economy. She hoped that local consumption sentiment could be encouraged after conditions have improved.
He expects October to be a good time for Hong Kong to win back tourists, with a slew of major events due to be held, including the Hong Kong Sevens, the Wine and Dine Festival and the Clockenflap Festival.
However, with no signs of the COVID-19 outbreak easing by June or August, these events risk being canceled or postponed, Cheng said.
